In his first public appearance since he took refuge two months ago inside Ecuador's embassy in London, Julian Assange calls for President Obama to end his war on whistleblowers. "The United States must renounce its witch hunt against WikiLeaks. The United States must dissolve its FBI investigation, the United States must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff or our supporters," Assange says. "The United States must pledge before the world that it will not pursue journalists for shining a light on the secret crimes of the powerful." Assange spoke from a window sill near a small balcony on the second floor of the Ecuadorean embassy as dozens of police officers looked on. He carefully did not step onto the balcony, which is considered outside the legal boundary of the embassy. The diplomatic standoff between Ecuador and Britain continues this week after Assange was granted political asylum by Ecuador, but U.K. authorities say they will arrest Assange and extradite him to Sweden.
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